Butte County, California

Butte County lies on the east side of the great Sacramento valley, between the Feather and Sacramento rivers; it has an area of 1,765 square miles, and a population of 30,000; the census of 1880 gave a population of 18,384. Chico, the chief city, lies in the center of a rich country, and is noted for its many handsome residences, and the Rancho Chico of General Bidwell, the greatest fruit farm in the state. It is also the seat of the new Normal School for northern California. Oroville, the county seat, is the center of a rapidly growing fruit section, where the orange grows to perfection. About one-third of the county is rich alluvial river bottoms, devoted to wheat and barley, but many of these fields, as well as the foothills, are being converted into orchards and vineyards. Grain-growing is still the leading source of wealth, but within three years fruit-raising has taken great strides, and in 1886 there were no less than 115,873 fruit trees. Last year many thousand orange trees were planted around Oroville. Mining and stock-raising are also profitable industries. The assessed valuation for 1889 was $19,894,614.

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Source: California State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1890, Volume II, R. L. Polk & Company, 1890.

@California American History and Genealogy Project 2011 - 2016
Created December 2, 2015 by Judy White